Traditional Broadcasting VS Social Broadcasting: The Mediamorphosis

Having worked in film and TV for more than 20 years, with the last 5 years of my career shared in the digital marketing arena, I have personally experienced many trends and changes in the consumer journey and it’s affect on marketing and promotions. I’ve learnt what I believe works and where companies are wasting money either because of outdated thinking, limited resources or fear of change. Let me explain….

The one thing I do know – hand on heart – is that traditional media is changing rapidly. It’s a ‘mediamorphosis’ and for every article that claims traditional TV is still dominating, another ratings sheet is released saying the very opposite, hence I’m sharing with you what I know to be true, from both statistics and ‘at the coalface’ experience.

Junkies

Before the start of this ‘social revolution’ my own sole existence was based around radio, tv and magazines. I was a self confessed media junkie who needed every fix possible: fashion, to food, to my weekly astrological forecast. I even took my first job in a bookstore, just so I could read magazines for free on my lunch break. I am, the ultimate materialistic consumer.

Now, I’m still looking for that same fix, however being a business owner, TV talent and part time stepparent, who is just generally BUSY, I have less time to get my fix. However, the immediacy of social media and online broadcasting platforms has cleverly met my need, fuelling my addiction, meeting my time poor requirements, from the convenience of any location, whenever I want it.

I can’t remember when I last bought a magazine and I no longer watch traditional TV.

And neither does the next gen 11 year old, I share my weekends with.

In fact, according to the Neilsen Report on Media Trends for 2016, ‘6 out of 10 people now read their news online’. This statistic is growing, and so is the transition of traditional magazines into digital format.

Thanks to the Google-verse, reality TV, our shortened attention spans and my own impatience, I require answers NOW. You may be the same. Thanks to the web and social platforms, I have all the answers to my questions in quick time and I don’t even have to switch on the TV to find it, or head to my newsagent to pick up the latest weeks or months ‘therapeutic read’.

And here’s a thought: when was the last time you looked at an Encyclopedia Britannica for information?

I hear stories from parents in business who claim that their only ‘timeout’ is when they have 5 minutes in the bathroom. That’s 5 minutes of potential facetime with your brand, when that desperate time poor parental is in need of answers – especially when the rest of their potential daily viewer experience in the home is dominated by on-demand episodes of High 5 and Peppa Pig.

Be helpful, be relevant, be convenient.

But convenience is more than just being helpful with knowledge. It’s the ‘click the link below the video, to have this delivered’ which is the real convenience. It’s the ‘shop the look NOW’ message that gets consumers like me excited. In our household we are often asked by the next gen, ‘I wonder if there’s a click the link to buy? This is great!’

Obviously, you can’t do that with traditional TV and realistically, when was the last time you phoned a call centre? And how long did you have to wait to speak to someone………?

It’s also worth noting that according to Bold Content Video, people spend 3x longer watching Facebook Live videos compared to those that are no longer live. That’s 3x longer facetime with your brand, even if they’re time poor. And they can click the link to buy. Win.

The Conversation

In my opinion and experience, the biggest difference that social broadcasting has made to the consumer journey is the conversation.

Conversation marketing via social broadcast is an amazing experience to be part of and to observe, as the inclusiveness of the viewers in that conversation, during the social broadcast, is a winning formula. It’s ‘peer to peer’ sales in action and as the conversation develops, answers are delivered, removing the barriers to sale. [FYI: A ‘sale’ could be in the form of increased sign ups, new followers, more engagement or an actual physical exchange of goods or services for money.]

In our work with clients, we can see viewer behaviour in real time as people pop in and out during a live broadcast. Facebook Live video provides statistics on viewer numbers and behaviour via its Insights dashboard, enabling you to use the data to understand your engagement, what to review, refine and improve on for next time.

Since starting their LIVE social broadcasting with us, one of our clients has seen their Facebook organic reach grow by 82%, their video views grow by 100%, their post engagement grow by 87% and their page interactions grow by a whopping 425%! To make this happen, we shared ideas on how to connect with the audience and develop the conversation during the broadcast, and the results were fantastic. Our presenters said ‘hi’ as people popped in to watch, mentioned viewers names, they kept changing the action and viewers stayed longer. No more TV style informercials here: The presenters talked like a friend, answered questions, had a laugh and sales happened. Actual, true, story.

It’s interesting to note that during the year I spent as a presenter on a NZ shopping channel, I was approached many times in the supermarket and asked ‘now, what did you truly think of that benchtop grill’ or ‘the blonde lady you work with, the one with the horse farm, she was talking about……’

The conversation side of our presentations worked, creating a memorable experience for the viewer and a feeling that they could trust us, as friends. When the blonde and I took to social media to talk about products as ‘real people’, it was noted that those products sold out. Co-incidence?

Content

Social broadcasting is not about heavily scripted content: it’s about the right content being available during that 5 minute toilet break, the bus ride to work or the 4 a.m. episode of insomnia. Know your people, their pain points, have the answers ready, share content that is helpful and people will watch. Alejandro also writes, ‘Social media is like word of mouth on steroids’, so developing the conversation, treating viewers like a friend works. Think about it: we all trust a recommendation from a friend, right?

Quality

Your broadcast has to look good because, like those people who will travel to the ends of the earth for good coffee, we’re not going to waste time or bandwidth with shaky video and the subject sitting in shadow. Reality TV has certainly lifted our expectations of fly on the wall viewing!

Professional product shows that you’re legit, you mean business and that you’ve taken the time and spared the budget to create a quality viewing experience for your viewers. Because you care…you’re there to help…..you have the solutions….so click the link below.

Consistency

To fuel junkies like me, consistency is the winning formula: regular broadcasts so I can tune in and get the new, the best or the most helpful solutions NOW or binge watch ‘on-demand’ when I’m feeling extra needy, post live broadcast. Either way, social broadcasting needs to be regular to be remembered. It’s a bit like Pavlov’s dog theory and possibly the reason that some scheduled broadcasts still work on mainstream TV.

This quote from Marketing Land in their article ‘Three Reasons Nobody Is Watching Your Facebook Live Video’ sums it up beautifully: ‘In the long run, Facebook Live will be judged on its users’ ability to create original and meaningful content on a regular basis.’

Agreed. Seen it, experienced it and I purchased the t-shirt, when the content was great and there was a ‘click to buy now’ button.

Finally, a question we’re asked regularly: what’s the ROI when it comes to social broadcasting?